Friday, March 5, 2010

The Right Thing

This afternoon, my parents were downtown and had the opportunity to see my office and meet my coworkers. I am blessed to have some pretty great co workers, and was glad my parents had the opportunity to meet them.

After they had left, I was talking to my boss, and he asked what they were downtown for. As it turns out, they were downtown to go to the state insurance board. There is a creek not too far from where my parents live, which puts them in a flood zone - so they have flood insurance. Flood insurance premiums are based on where you live in the flood zone. My parents ended up switching insurance companies, only to find out the one they left had overcharged them because they had my parents in the wrong zone - and had overcharged them for 2 years. My dad called the Union County offices and FEMA and verified this information was correct, that they had overpaid based on where they lived in the flood zone. My dad called the former insurance company to try and get their money back - to no avail. In the event you are not familiar with flood insurance, it is quite expensive.

Clearly, the former company made a mistake - and is not owning up to it. Lord only knows how many other people are paying far more than they should. That being said, my dad has reported this issue to the state insurance board. Whether or not they get a refund at this point is irrelevant - my dad fundamentally believes in doing the right thing, and he feels the right thing in this case is for the insurance company to own up to their mistake. I told my boss that my dad is a man who believes in doing the right thing, even when it is not always convenient.

Fast forward to 2 hrs later. While my parents were stopped at a red light (they were the first car waiting for the light to turn green) a car ran the light and t-boned another car crossing the intersection. The car hit another car, for a total of three cars in the accident. When I was talking to my mom, she said they driver at fault told the police that the light was green - I asked how she knew that. She said that they stayed and waited for the police - that my dad felt obligated to provide information to the police being as they had witnessed it all. The 2 cars behind them stayed as well.

Growing up, the phrase "Its the right thing to do" came out of his mouth quite a bit. Wasn't always what I wanted to hear back then, but I hear it loud and clear now, and it has left a lasting impression. So for all my dear friends out there who wonder whether their kids "hear" them - while they may not acknowledge they hear you, they do. :)

3 comments:

Becky Andrews said...

That one rings through in my head too - thanks to some great parents. Such a blessing. Thanks for sharing - glad you have such dear parents.

The Monroes said...

Good message and good reminder to parents...kids hear you AND they watch your actions as well. It is great having parents that do the right thing isn't it?

Infrequent Flyers said...

That's a great story and reminder. Your parents' integrity has given you a lot of respect for them. The important thing was that their emphasis was on "doing" the right thing, not just saying the right thing. After all, actions speak so much louder than words.